The second month with the most international passengers since the year 2000

MADRID, 18 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Spain received more than 6.5 million international air passengers last March, 30% more than in the same month last year, according to data released Tuesday by Turespaña. This month of March has also been the second with the most international passengers since the year 2000.

For the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, these data show that Spanish tourism, in the first quarter of the year, "is on track to break all records after the pandemic." "Spain can boast of having a robust and modern tourism sector that is offering our country stability, security and a future," he said.

In addition, he has stressed that tourism is being a "source of wealth" and one of the best "letters of introduction" abroad. "Our goal as a government is to continue working to improve the quality of our tourism and remain at the forefront of the sector," she said.

In the month of March, Spain increased the arrival of international passengers from the main issuing countries. 55.6% of all passengers came from the European Union, experiencing a rise of 25.8%, while the flow from the rest of the world, which accounted for the remaining 44.4%, grew by 35.7%.

In terms of countries, and comparing with the figures for 2022, the markets that registered the highest growth were Portugal, with 63.2% more, followed by the United States and Ireland, with 42.9% and 38.9%. respectively.

One more month, the United Kingdom was the first issuer by volume of passengers in March (1.4 million), and an annual growth of 33.3%. This country represents 21.9% of the total share of arrivals in Spain

The arrival of British passengers (which exceeds 3.4 million in the total so far this year) has affected all the autonomous communities, but especially in the Canary Islands, which was the destination of 35.7% of its passengers.

After the United Kingdom, Germany continues to be the second country of origin for international passengers arriving in our country. A total of 873,738 passengers (13.4% of the quota) arrived from Germany in this month of March, with an increase of 19%, which has mainly benefited the Canary Islands (31% of the total passengers went to that community).

From Italy, the third issuing country, came 9.1% of the flow of passengers received in March (592,207 passengers in total), with year-on-year growth of 31.4%, which particularly benefited Catalonia (32.1% of passengers ) and Madrid (32%).

For its part, France issued 7.4% of all passengers in March, showing growth of 19%, which mainly favored Madrid and Catalonia. In the case of the Netherlands, international passengers experienced an increase of 10.2% in March, with the Valencian Community, Catalonia and Andalusia as the main destinations.

Madrid was the community with the most international arrivals last month (27.2% of the total), followed by Catalonia (20.8%) and the Canary Islands (20.2%). Among the six main ones, Catalonia was the one that registered the highest year-on-year growth (42.6%), followed by Madrid (36.7%) and Valencia (28.2%). The growth in the group of the six communities with the most arrivals (between the six add up to a share of 97% of the total) was 29.4%.

As for airports, Barcelona was the one that experienced the most year-on-year growth (43% compared to March 2022), followed by Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas (with growth of 36.7%).

In total volume, Madrid's Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport reached 1.7 million international passengers in March, compared to the 1.3 million registered at El Prat airport in Barcelona; in third place is that of Malaga-Costa del Sol, with a total of 596,951 international passengers.

Of the total number of passengers arriving in Spain by air last month, most of them, 58.1%, chose low-cost airlines (CBC) to travel, representing an increase of 31%, while those who traveled by traditional companies, occupied 41.9% of the remaining positions, increasing by 28.6%.

Although international air passengers are not equivalent to international tourists because they also include residents of Spain who return from an international airport, the vast majority do correspond to tourists.